This invention relates to an electrical panel for physically supporting and supplying electrical connection for a plurality of electrical components.
Electronics components have in recent years been mounted upon circuit boards manufactured often by photographic techniques in which the conductive paths for connecting the electronics components are formed by patterned lines laying upon the circuit board. Various advanced computer techniques have been developed for generating these patterns so that the circuit board can be custom designed for a particular application rapidly and manufactured from the pattern so formed. Electronics components generally however operate upon very low voltages and carry very low currents and hence the manufacture of the circuit board can be carried out by etching techniques or deposit techniques since the amount of metallic material necessary for conducting the low currents is relatively small.
In contrast the electrical components necessary for various machines including contactors, relays, breakers and the like often must carry voltages generally in excess of 100 volts and often as much as 600 volts. Accordingly the currents flowing through the connectors are correspondingly large reaching values of many amps. Attempts have been made to manufacture circuit boards for use with electrical components in a similar manner used with the electronics components of low current values. This has been attempted by various depositing techniques using low melting point metallic materials but these techniques have not been successful and have not been widely adopted.
The general technique therefore for the mounting and electrical connection of electrical components involves complex wiring harnesses formed by individual wires which have to be assembled, inserted onto the machine and attached to the various components. This requirement is highly inefficient and hence expensive in labor costs, significantly increasing the cost of the basic machine.
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved panel arrangement for mechanically supporting and electrically connecting various electrical components of an electrical system.
According to the first aspect of the invention, therefore there is provided an electrical panel for physically supporting and supplying electrical connections for a plurality of electrical components comprising a layer of a conductive material formed into a plurality of conductive paths, a first non-conductive material covering a forward side of said layer, a second non-conductive material covering a rearward side of said layer so that the layer is enclosed and sandwiched between said materials, means providing structural strength for said panel sufficient to support said panel and said components attached thereto, a first plurality of holes formed in said first non-conductive material communicating with electrical connecting points on said conductive paths of said layer for allowing electrical connection thereto and a second plurality of holes formed in said first non-conductive material communicating with positions on said panel spaced from said conductive paths to provide mechanical connection of said components to said panel.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of supporting and connecting electrical components comprising generating a pattern of electrical connection paths having electrical connection points thereon and mechanical connection points separate from the paths, forming a layer of a conductive material into said paths, embedding said layer in a non-conductive material forming a front layer of said non-conductive material and a rear layer of said non-conductive material, forming a first plurality of holes in said front layer to connect with said electrical connection points, forming a second plurality of holes in said front layer to connect with said mechanical connecting points between said electrical connection paths, and providing structural strength for said panels sufficient such that said mechanical connecting points support said components.